I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
A Fool and His Honey
by
Charlaine Harris
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by JABberwocky Literary Agency Inc. on September 13, 1999 and has 224 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Night's Edge, Death's Excellent Vacation, Must Love Hellhounds, Dead Reckoning, Bite, A Secret Rage, Home Improvement: Undead Edition, Deadlocked, An Apple for the Creature, Dead Ever After, The Sookie Stackhouse Companion, Games Creatures Play, After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse, Indigo, Night Shift, Sleep Like a Baby, The Pretenders, A Longer Fall, An Easy Death, The Russian Cage, Small Kingdoms and Other Stories, Real Murders, A Bone to Pick, Three Bedrooms, One Corpse, Dead Until Dark, The Julius House, Dead Over Heels, Shakespeare’s Landlord, Last Scene Alive, Shakespeare’s Champion
Sixth in the Aurora Teagarden cozy mystery series and revolving around an amateur sleuth based in Georgia and heading to Ohio in this story. The focus is on a new baby as Aurora and Martin frantically try to figure out what’s going on.
My Take
It starts with a series of surprises. Martin’s niece showing up unannounced with her baby. That unwanted dinner with the Lowrys.
Poor Ellen, subsuming her own wants to her husband’s “needs”. Guess she got her “thrills” her own way. Bitch.
Then there’s poor Aurora and Martin, stuck with a baby they had no clue how to deal with, lol. Aurora was so pissed and Martin’s “lacks” are shockingly (not) revealed. It does not help that Aurora can’t have babies. Of course, it won’t be the only revelation Aurora is shocked at. We easily learn these things from Harris’ use of first person protagonist point-of-view from Aurora’s perspective.
Sally gives Roe something rather nasty to think about. Could she really be that selfish?
Oh, man. It is definitely a series of shocks for Aurora, especially when she throws Bartlett’s jerkness at Cindy and Martin. It’s about time Aurora let loose.
Oh boy. I guess Rory’s, um, lack of smarts is probably genetic. We get a visit to the Harbors’ home, and it’s a shocking revelation for Aurora. I guess Dylan escaped their influence.
”If he had two thoughts at one time, they’d throw a surprise party.”
It’s a wide range of huh-whats? in this one, and I’m torn between laughing (at Harris poking fun at all the craziness) and Aurora’s fears. So many questions. Is the baby really Regina’s? Where is the money coming from? Who’s doing all this killing? Why? What part does Rory play in all this?
They’re fears that turn out to be too possible.
Being an adult ain’t easy. And I’m wanting to cry all over again.
The Story
The big question is: Was Regina ever really pregnant?
The Characters
Aurora “Roe” Teagarden is a happily married librarian. Martin Bartell — Aurora thinks he has a pirate gene stuck somewhere in his DNA — is vice-president of manufacturing for Pan-Am Agra. Madeleine is the cat who lives with them — and has a hate-hate relationship with Martin. Shelby (who knew Martin in Vietnam and is currently a crew leader at Pan-Am Agra) and the pregnant Angel Youngblood, who used to be Aurora’s bodyguards and are still friends, moved out of the garage apartment eight weeks ago.
Corinth, Ohio, is . . .
. . . Martin’s hometown. Martin’s mother had married another farmer, the cruel Joseph Flocken. Regina is Barby’s daughter; Craig Graham is her morally ambivalent husband (who got released from jail early). They’ve been living in Martin’s restored farmhouse in Corinth. Hayden is their weeks-old baby. Aunt Cindy is Martin’s first wife; the snotty Barrett is the actor son she had with Martin. Dennis Stinson is Cindy’s new partner. Bobbye Sunday is a midwife in Brook County. Barby Lampton is Martin’s sister and on a cruise with her fiancé, Hubert Morris, an investment banker.
Rory Brown is Craig’s amiably stupid best friend who’s violating his parole. Hugh and Lenore née Thurlkill Harbor are the uncle and aunt who raised Craig and Dylan, Craig’s older brother. The house-proud Dylan, who works at the John Deere dealership, is married to Shondra; Kelly is their little girl. Rory is Shondra’s big brother, poor girl.
Karl Bagosian is an old friend of Martin’s who owns the Jeep dealership. Darlene is Karl’s youngest; Gil and Therese are his other kids. Phoebe is Karl’s wife. Margaret, a former schoolteacher, and Luke Granberry own the farm next door to Martin’s. Geraldine Clooney appears to be the postwoman. Brod is the sheriff.
Candra is a waitress.
Laurenceton, Georgia, is . . .
. . . where Aurora was born and still lives with her husband. Aida Brattle Teagarden Queensland, Aurora’s successful Realtor® mother, is newly married to John Queensland, who has just had a heart attack. Avery and John David are John’s sons from a previous marriage. Melinda is Avery’s wife. Phillip is Roe’s half-brother.
Sally Allison is a reporter for the local paper. Amina is Roe’s best friend and mother to Megan. Her husband is a lawyer in Houston. Lizanne Buckley Sewell, a friend of Aurora’s, had a baby boy two months ago. Catledge (he’s the current mayor) and Ellen Lowry (who’s on every board and a member of every club worth joining) are casual friends. Their son, Jefferson, is doing well at Georgia Tech; Tally, another son, is working on a special study in Tennessee. Clement Farmer is the Bartells’ nearest neighbor.
Darius Quattermain is the deacon of Antioch Holiness Church and has gone crazy while delivering wood. Dr Zelman is Martin’s doctor. Lucinda Esther is a professional cook.
Pan-Am Agra is . . .
. . . an agricultural products company. Marnie Sands is Martin’s secretary. Jason Arlington works with Shelby. David works in Receiving.
The Lawrenceton PD
The Sparling County Law Enforcement Complex (SPACOLEC) is their home base. Padgett Lanier is the sheriff. Doris is the dispatcher? Officers include Jimmy Henske and Levon Suit.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a teal-on-teal textured and figured background with a row of colorful book spines lined up at the bottom with a white outline against the exposed edges. A pair of Aurora’s glasses are perched on top of the books on the right with the series info above the glasses. At the top is the author’s name in a dark teal. The title is a’slant in the middle in white in a script font.
The title should really be a plural, fools, for this truly is a tale about A Fool and His Honey.
